Supreme Magus novel Chapter 146

The following day, thanks to a full night of sleep, Lith had regained his cool, and started to plan his next moves. First, he needed to find a cure for all the four different kinds of parasites.

It wasn’t only a matter of using that knowledge to guide from the shadows the healers and alchemist.

Helping the Crown into developing a fake magic spell or drug was of secondary importance. The priority was to find a cure for himself, so that even if everything went south and the plagues spreaded to the rest of the Kingdom, he would still be the master of his own destiny.

The mana blocking parasite was the one that worried him the most. Unlike the others, it didn’t deal any direct damage to the host, but without mana, a magician was like a wingless eagle.

Lith had no idea if it would have the same effect on Awakened ones, but he wasn’t willing to take unnecessary risks. The first parasite he would study was the one turning healing magic into wounds.

It was the only one he was already familiar with, having treated its effects in the past. He could use that advantage to quickly understand how the parasites worked and then apply that knowledge to eradicate them for good.

Outside his tent, Lith found a soldier waiting for him.

"Good morning, sir. The Colonel sent me to escort you to his tent for the morning debriefing." Despite both were wearing a mask, Lith could hear the soldier’s voice brimming with curiosity.

His farmer clothes stuck out like a sore thumb, but with his pocket dimension still offline, he hadn’t much of a choice.

It was barely dawn, but the encampment was already bustling with activity.

When he entered, both Kilian and Varegrave stood up from their chairs, inviting him to join them for breakfast. With all that had happened the day before, Lith had skipped dinner, so he was starving.

He didn’t like Varegrave, but in his book hunger beat pride with a tennis score. The furniture in the tent had been changed, the hardwood desk and chair were no longer in sight, replaced by a smaller square dining table.

"This is definitely my kind of debriefing." Eggs, sausages, bacon, everything had a delicious smell. Lith filled his plate, waiting for an explanation.

"Glad to see you have recovered completely. The buzz cut is a smart move, it will help you blend in."

Kilian’s words made little sense to him, until watching at his reflection in a glass, he discovered that not only his har was back, but also all the burn marks had disappeared, leaving no scar or discoloration.

- "Solus, when the heck did it happen?"

"Last night. It seems that when you sleep, your healing abilities become strong enough to border regeneration. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and you were exhausted." –

"What are the plans for today?" Lith tried to change the topic. That kind of healing was too sophisticated for a simple student, and even if he wanted to, he was unable to replicate it.

"The state of national emergency has been declared yesterday. By the end of today the Master Healers from the six big academies should arrive." Varegrave’s voice was firm, but from his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles around them, Lith assumed the Colonel had spent a sleepless night.

"To avoid a recurrence of the sabotage that costed Velagros his life, I have sent a detail to escort the groups here safely. It will take at least until tomorrow to arrange a proper housing for everyone and explain the situation.

In the meantime, I have to ask you to keep working on the plagues. Despite the information blackout, the news about Kandria are spreading. We have to solve this situation before our weakness is exposed to the neighbouring countries.

When you are done eating, I would like for you to wear these clothes."

Varegrave took out of his dimensional amulet a grey military uniform consisting of leather boots, grey linen pants and shirt with a white dot on both shoulders, white gloves and a mask of the same colour.

"Your current outfit makes you an easy target. I have reasons to believe that there are traitors even among us. That uniform, instead, will simply identify you as a plague doctor.

Such status will grant you several privileges, among which free movement in all the facilities and authority over the soldiers. Any questions?"